A brilliant English invention, this tart, lemony cream is truly irresistible!
Our trees are brimming with fragrant lemons and I made lots of marmalade with and without Seville oranges; I also made lemon liqueur, and this year I took the time and candied some peels (see recipe). I was inspired by the exquisite “tasty, bite size, fruit candy” my friend June Taylor–the marmalade-maker par excellence–makes! (more…)
I substituted my garden’s fava pods for the elegant green asparagus in David Tanis’ brilliant Spanish Asparagus Revuelto; the result is a humble, yet deliciously satisfying dish of scrambled eggs with fava and garlic.
Inventive Mediterranean cooks use any seasonal vegetable, herb or green, and combine them with eggs to make frittata or froutalia —the Greek version. I am thrilled to discover revueltos, the simple Spanish stir-fry of vegetables and eggs, similar to what we call strapatsada in Greece –from the Italian uova strapazzate(scrambled eggs). (more…)
On Saturday before the Holy Week, in many parts of Greece women used to bake anthropomorphic breads called ‘lazarakia’ to celebrate St Lazarus’ resurrection.
According to the old customs groups of girls called lazarines used to go around the village from home to home carrying baskets decorated with spring flowers and aromatic herbs, singing Lazarus’s carols and announcing the coming Easter feast:
“…Wake up Lazarus today is your day of joy {…}
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and we’ll eat mackerel
but next Sunday we will feast on Easter lamb!” (more…)
The large and rich-flavored goose eggs are just an extra bonus!
Our neighbor’s coop was repeatedly attacked by martens, the small European wild predators that seem to thrive on the island. Twice in the winter they have nested inside the engine of our pickup truck and we had to shower them with the hose because we couldn’t otherwise scare them enough to make them leave. They somehow manage to get into the coops, even if they are well-fenced with strong wire on all sides, and kill the chicken severing their heads. (more…)
The last of the broccoli braised with potatoes and plenty of garlic, just before we uprooted the flowering plants.
Although slugs and snails feasted on our broccoli, we had quite an abundant crop this year; certainly more than we could possibly eat. I froze a couple of bags, gave to friends throughout the winter, and now that the time has come to free the space to plant zucchini and the first tomatoes, I decided to make a quick lunch with these very last sprigs. Even Costas enjoyed this extremely simple dish, although he told me he is fed up–he was never a broccoli enthusiast, anyway. (more…)
